


The Lost Album

by Konoha



Category: Free!
Genre: Canon Compliant, Fluff, M/M, prompts, rinharu - Freeform, sharkbait - Freeform
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-12-13
Updated: 2017-12-14
Packaged: 2019-02-14 04:42:35
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 2
Words: 1,655
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13000104
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Konoha/pseuds/Konoha
Summary: A collection of various oneshots based off of scenarios that have played out in my head, along with prompts I've been given. Aiming for little snippets that could fit into the canon universe. Some AU here and there, but nothing outlandish.





	1. The Plane Ride

**Author's Note:**

> Hey guys! I haven't written in a long time. Half of that was due to my current battle with mental illness, and the other half was due to my lack of time. I'm trying to get back into writing, so I figured what better way to do that than with my OTP? I was super psyched about the new Free! specials, movie, and future third season that I just jumped right in. Hope you enjoy!

It was of course no one other than Rin who dragged him here, and much to his surprise he hadn't questioned his motives until this very moment. Haru sat close to a window of the spacious airport, feeling suffocated yet completely relaxed at the same time. Next to him, Rin was busy scrolling down what appeared to be a news website, and would occasionally turn his phone towards Haru to show him a picture of a dog. 

"Are you going to tell me  _why_ we're going to Australia?" Haru asked, feigning indifference. He knew how Rin worked, and although he wasn't as persistent as Nagisa or as convincing as Rei, he always seemed to get his way when it came to Haru.  

"If I told you," Rin paused to pull their tickets out of his bag, "you wouldn't want to come. You'll see."

"But—" Haru is interrupted by the receptionist at the counter, who announces, "Flight 1713 is now boarding." promptly over the loudspeaker. Rin cheerfully tows along his suitcase, only stopping when he's in line to board to see if Haru is following him. Haru begrudgingly drags his suitcase behind him in line and lets out a sigh. 

Once seated in their window seats, which Rin prided himself in getting "last minute, it's impossible trust me", Haru took deep breaths to calm his racing heart. He'd only been on a flight once before, and he was too little at the time to remember it. After minutes that felt like an eternity, he felt the plane jolt and felt his heart race up to his throat. Rin gave him a concerned look, before flashing a cocky smile.

"You're not scared of flying are you?" Rin sneered. Although his tone was light, Haru saw a hint of mischief in those eyes. They stared at each other for a few seconds, and Haru didn't even notice the plane had  _actually_ begun to move. It was a sudden jerk that snapped him out of his daze, and he snapped his attention to the window next to Rin in panic. 

"Haru, hey," Rin crooned, genuinely concerned. His focus flickered between Haru and the window, before shifting slightly so his body and arm blocked part of the window. Haru's eyes were pools of fear, and Rin hadn't seen such a hopeless look on his face since he stood up during the middle of his freestyle race a couple of weeks ago. Brashly, Rin reached over and took hold of Haru's hand, giving it a gentle squeeze. Haru visibly relaxed at the touch, and looked away. Rin was grateful for this, as he felt his face warm up the second he made contact. 

"It's alright, see? You're fine," he mumbled, and reached down in his bag to pull out headphones with his free hand. Once the takeoff stage was over, Rin turned on his phone, carefully putting it on _Airplane Mode_ , and fumbled with the cord of the headphones in an attempt to plug it in with one hand. He caught Haru suppressing a laugh in the corner of his eye and scowled, but chose to say nothing as Haru gently escaped Rin's grasp. His hand brushed over Rin's once before pulling away and laying on the armrest. He looked like he wanted to say something, but remained silent.

"This always calmed me down whenever I'd fly when I was younger," Rin commented, before offering an earbud to Haru. He curiously took it and held it up to his ear, taking in the music that played. An image of little Rin flashed through Haru's mind, and he tried to hold back a smile that spread across his face. Rin stared at him, confusion plastered on his face.

"Do you like it?' He asked, almost mumbling. 

"Romantic,  _isn't it_ ," Haru mimicked in little Rin's tone. Rin registered the reference immediately, and turned away in his seat, face completely red. He didn't say anything else for the rest of the flight, but about an hour in he felt Haru's head plop against his shoulder. Rin gently brushed the hair out of his face, before resting his head against Haru's and closing his eyes. 

 


	2. Bottom of the Pool

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> [Spoiler for S2] Setting is right before Haru has that incident that disqualifies him from the 100m race at nationals. Setting is at night, right after Rin goes looking for Haru at his hotel room and runs into Makoto, Rei, and Nagisa.
> 
> Different from canon in the sense that we aren't told where Haru runs off to, and Rin says he's headed back and doesn't go out to look for him.

_"You're the pride of our school. Do your best!"_

The words buzzed through Haru's mind like a plague of moths; he could barely hear his own thoughts above the haze. He felt heavy, like the world was caving in on him and he was left to support all the weight. 

_"That talent shouldn't be wasted."_

His shoes slammed onto the concrete as they made contact. He was panting now, running past the few that ventured out this late. He was met with idle stares from children and confused glances from adults, even drawing the attention of a dog who was hidden behind a wooden fence. The houses were blurring together now, and the best part of it all was that he had  _no idea_ where he was going. He just wanted to get away. 

_"We're expecting great things from you."_

Towards the end of a particular road, Haru noticed a divider similar to the ones located near the parks in Iwatobi. His pace slowly came to a halt, and he stared in the general direction, wondering where to go from here. After a few moments he began to walk towards it, and was soon met with the soothing, yet slightly eerie sight of an abandoned in-ground swimming pool. The lights against the pool wall themselves were still on, yet all the water appeared to have been drained. Haru peered over the side of it, and discovered a few leaves dancing along the bottom in the wind. 

 

* * *

 

"I just had something to speak to Haru about," Rin explained, turning to leave out of the room, "He's not here so I'm headed back. See you." He felt the stare of Rei and Nagisa as he turned his back to them and began to walk away. He was down the hall waiting for the elevator when he heard Nagisa's distinct voice remark, "Wait, Haru-chan's really not here?"

Rin had lost track of time on the way here, and his conversation with Makoto had distracted him from the main reason he came all this way in the first place. It wasn't  _that_ late, but it was still late. It was unlike Haru to skip out on important pre-tournament routines, he wouldn't compromise his swimming for something so mundane as staying up. Rin took out his cellphone from his jacket pocket and scrolled through his seemingly endless list of contacts. A lot of them he wondered why he still had saved. People, usually girls, would come up to him and congratulate him on his accomplishments, and then tell him they were interested in his workout routines or needed swimming tips. He'd give them his number to contact, yet to his surprise almost none of them actually seemed interested in anything to do with swimming. Eventually he'd stop texting them for one reason or another and he'd never talk to them again.

Finally at the N's, Rin's finger hovered over Haru's contact before making the quick decision to give him a call. After two rings he was sent to voicemail. Slightly annoyed, Rin immediately called back, only to be met with the same fate. He double clicked on Haru's name to text him, now motivated to make contact. He typed out " _hey what gives where are you_ " before hitting send and hoping for the best. In the meantime, he exited the hotel and began walking towards his own. He was almost at the front steps when his phone went off, seven minutes later.

" _What do you want?_ " This response carried a tone that didn't sit nicely with Rin, and he typed out a reply hastily before backspacing the hell out of it. He calmed himself and wrote out, 

" _i came by your hotel to talk to you but mako said you were out. it's getting pretty late, you should get back soon._ "

The next reply wasn't a text, but a pin of a location. It was a place not too far from his current location apparently, about a fifteen minute walk. Rin stared at the text, analyzing it for all it could mean. Before he knew it he found himself walking in the general direction of the location, and soon broke out into a sprint.

Upon arriving at the location Haru sent him, Rin's first instinct was that this was a prank and he had wasted his time. He noticed the swimming pool first of course, how couldn't you with its bright lights in the darkness, but the Iwatobi swimmer was nowhere in sight.

He was about to leave when he heard a quiet, almost inaudible "Rin" come from the direction of the swimming pool. Rin walked over, almost tripping in, and found Haru sitting at the very bottom. The boy glanced up at him through his hair, looking slightly helpless. Without muttering a word, Rin crouched down and offered a hand to him, who took it and pulled himself out. 

He looked like he was going to say something but remained silent. He stared down at the ground in visible frustration, an expression Rin had only seen a handful of times before.

"About tomorrow..." Haru began, and trailed off. Rin gave him a minute to speak, but when he noticed Haru shivering his priorities shifted.

"Let's head back, we can talk tomorrow," Rin started, and shrugged off his jacket. He draped it over Haru's shoulders before walking forward, expecting Haru to follow. He did, and soon they were almost back at the hotel. 

"...Thanks." Haru muttered, avoiding Rin's eyes. As they approached the entrance, he shrugged off the jacket and handed it back to Rin before turning to head inside. 

"Good luck tomorrow," Rin called after him, "I'll be cheering you on."

Haru's silhouette disappeared beyond the hotel doors, and with that Rin went back. 


End file.
